Bacterial Bloom?

Tyler N · Nov 27, 2022

Hey all. I've got a decent bacterial bloom going that I can't seem to rid myself of. It's been going for almost a week now with no sign of letting up. Fish all seem OK, but Corals are not loving the lack of good light. Any suggestions for a relatively quick fix here?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 1
PH: 8.0
KH: 161
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 400
Magnesium: 1482

Thanks in advance!

blaxsun · Nov 27, 2022

Other than a UV you mean...?

NMU1963 · Nov 27, 2022

Tyler N said:
Hey all. I've got a decent bacterial bloom going that I can't seem to rid myself of. It's been going for almost a week now with no sign of letting up. Fish all seem OK, but Corals are not loving the lack of good light. Any suggestions for a relatively quick fix here?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 1
PH: 8.0
KH: 161
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 400
Magnesium: 1482

Thanks in advance!

Water change

Tyler N · Nov 27, 2022

blaxsun said:
Other than a UV you mean...?

The tank is coming up on 4 months now, and the lady at the LFS said no UV or risk killing the good bacteria. That was my first thought but I got turned off of it. You think that would be no problem?

Tyler

Tyler N · Nov 27, 2022

NMU1963 said:
Water change

My experience with past blooms has been that water changes clear it up for a day, then it comes back stronger after. That seems to be the consensus most places I checked as well, unfortunately.

blaxsun · Nov 27, 2022

Tyler N said:
The tank is coming up on 4 months now, and the lady at the LFS said no UV or risk killing the good bacteria. That was my first thought but I got turned off of it. You think that would be no problem?

I run a UV 24/7 and have been for several years now, and everything is still alive and thriving (almost no algae, zero nuisance algae and my fish are disease and parasite free) - there are added benefits like this as well, along with crystal clear water. Most of the beneficial bacteria (etc.) in your tank is going to be on the rock surfaces, sand and glass (to a lesser extent) - so a UV will generally just sterilize what's in the water column. But you can usually dial it to an "algae only" setting as well, if you like.

taricha · Nov 28, 2022

Tyler N said:
no UV or risk killing the good bacteria. That was my first thought but I got turned off of it. You think that would be no problem?

I prefer skimming out the bacteria because it's eating stuff that it would be helpful to export.
In addition to that, or if no skimmer, then UV is necessary.
The vast majority of bacteria will be surface associated. You will not harm your biome by running UV for a limited time to clear up a cloudy water event.
in the mean-time ensure that you are aerating the water to keep stuff healthy.

olonmv · Nov 28, 2022

Microbacter 7 Clears up blooms for me nicely.

Tyler N · Nov 28, 2022

blaxsun said:
I run a UV 24/7 and have been for several years now, and everything is still alive and thriving (almost no algae, zero nuisance algae and my fish are disease and parasite free) - there are added benefits like this as well, along with crystal clear water. Most of the beneficial bacteria (etc.) in your tank is going to be on the rock surfaces, sand and glass (to a lesser extent) - so a UV will generally just sterilize what's in the water column. But you can usually dial it to an "algae only" setting as well, if you like.

UV cleared it up in about 4 hours. Outstanding, thank you!